Oprah Winfrey Eyeing Broadway Debut In ‘’Night, Mother’ Revival

Oprah Winfrey — Main Stem star? The multihyphenate might be adding another line to her resume as she’s in talks to make her Broadway acting debut in a revival of ‘Night, Mother, The New York Times reports. The TV legend and OWN founder would star opposite Tony winner Audra McDonald in a new production to be helmed by Broadway veteran George C. Wolfe that’s targeting the 2015-16 season. Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer-winning drama about a woman trying to persuade her daughter not to commit suicide premiered in 1983, earning four Tony noms including best play. It had a brief revival in the mid-2000s. Winfrey, whose only Broadway experience is as a producer of the 2005-08 show The Color Purple, returned to acting after a long layoff in last year’s Lee Daniels’ The Butler.

6 Comments

This is great news! Wasn’t she going to do a movie with Meryl Streep and Michael Patrick King?! I want to see that!!

hmmm • on Feb 6, 2014 5:55 pm

I saw the original production with Kathy Bates. Tough act to follow…

LAguy • on Feb 6, 2014 5:55 pm

It’s a brilliant play that was turned into a terrible movie (with a miscast Sissy Spacek as the daughter). Oprah and Audra are actually inspired casting.

Brad • on Feb 6, 2014 5:55 pm

Absolutely haunting play. A real masterpiece. Think this could be great!

Wish Oprah The Best • on Feb 6, 2014 5:55 pm

I wish Oprah Winfrey the best because her acting was a lot to be desired in The Butler . Yes , Winfrey wants to win that Tony Award , but , she was also inspired by Tom Hanks’ recent critically acclaimed turned on Broadway. Oprah needs to understand that Tom Hanks comes from a strong theater background , and she doesn’t ( and Oprah saw her friend Julia Roberts bomb in Broadway’s Three Days of Rain . ) . Acting on stage is much different and more challenging that doing television and feature films . Plus , I hope Oprah understands that N.Y. theater critics and London West End critics are more vicious and more picky than film and television critics .

P.S. I will see the brilliant Audra McDonald in anything . She is easily the queen of the N.Y. stage . Where is her big time movie career ? Audra is more gifted than most of today’s A-list film and tv stars. .